We build bridges, not promises

From Lagos to Bremen - my story

It started with one sentence from a friend in Nigeria: “Esther, you can study abroad.” I had no idea how - only that I was not going to let the idea go.

What followed were nights I will never forget. After work I prepared my documents, reading every thread on Nairaland for the answers no one around me could give. The blocked account was the wall everyone warned me about, so I travelled up and down the country to raise it - and in the end I did not do it alone. Family and friends pooled their money for me. That account was not just proof of funds; it was a promise I had to keep.

I got my passport. I practised for the embassy interview for hours, desperate to make every answer count. Then it happened: admission at Universität Bremen, and a visa approved on the very first try. I flew from Lagos to Istanbul, and from Istanbul into my new life in Bremen.

Then came my first winter - endless snow and a system that worked completely differently from everything I knew. More than once I was ready to give up. Instead I kept going: shifts at McDonald’s, long hours in a warehouse, every euro going back to the people who had believed in me.

Life kept growing. I met my husband here, we had two children, and my first internship only became possible thanks to a kindergarten place and his family’s support. I finished my Master’s degree while pregnant with our third child.

That is my story. Today I help students from Africa cross the very same bridge - honestly, legally, and with someone in their corner the whole way. So here is my one question for you: when are you starting yours?